Returning to Where It All Began

Find your Navy RTC Yearbook and Company Photo

You’re looking back on your time at Navy boot camp and wishing you could remember more . . . What was that CCs name that I thought I’d never forget? Who was that RCPO who made us do extra push-ups on the grinder? When was my graduation? If you don’t have your yearbook or company photo from boot camp, here are a few things to try.

YEARBOOKS

As a recruit, you could pre-order your company yearbook, also known as graduation book or cruise book, before graduation, but some recruits didn’t buy one. Others lost their book (so many moves!) or even threw it away. But now, the older, wiser us wants to reminisce, and we don’t have it.

RTC Orlando: The Rudder RTC San Diego: The Anchor RTC Great Lakes: The Keel

The publishers are no longer in business and the Navy doesn’t have the yearbooks (and frankly, they have more important things to do). So, what do you do?

1.Find a shipmate from your company who has a yearbook or photo, and ask them to share.

[This is exactly what I did, and it worked great. I was, in fact, still in touch with my shippy Denise, and she generously mailed me her copy of the Rudder, which I scanned. (Then I sent her flowers as a thank-you.)]

First, if you haven’t checked our RTC Orlando Veterans Roll Call yet, please start there. There are over 4,200 entries so far (as of April 2018) and you can search by year and by company number. Begin by submitting your own data, and go on to search for others.

There are several general Navy veteran groups like US Navy Vets group and US Navy Veteran group, each with thousands of members. Plus groups for every rating, specialty, platform, and many commands. Search Facebook group for “US Navy” and you’ll find hundreds of them.

Others

If your shipmates aren’t on Facebook, try searching one of the following sites for veterans:

NOTE: If you have or find your yearbook, it’s a great idea to scan it yourself or have it done at FedEx/Kinko’s or a similar copy shop (reasonable prices, too). Please send those scans to our RTC Orlando Historian, Ann Byrnes, and also send them to #3 and #4 above, to add to their collections and to help shipmates in the future.

COMPANY PHOTOS

Otherwise, start with #1 above (find a shipmate), and add your former Company Commander, in case they have a copy of the photo.

You’ll have to use the same techniques as #1 to find your CC, unfortunately, since, as far as we know, there aren’t any organizations just for them. However, you might find more options if searching for a Navy Chief, for instance, by searching sources only for them.

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